I came back to cycling last year but ended up with some serious back and shoulder issues. I've had one shoulder worked on and I have some perpetual problems to deal with. I'm looking for something to just stay in shape.

Has anyone changed for this reason? I'm trying to avoid all of the strain that hours putting a lot of upper body weight onto my arms would bring. What should I look for in a recumbent and how should I start?

I'm in the Seattle area.

There's several different styles of recumbents and they all ride differently. Lots of riders love under seat handlebars but I've gotten serious shoulder pain from using them because they didn't support my arm well enough.

My advice is to find a recumbent specialty shop. An ordinary LBS that carries a couple of recumbents isn't good enough.

Take a trip over to 'BentRider Online where you can find a list of recumbent shops by state. You can also get a lot of information from fellow riders who have your problem and read many reviews by the staff.

Recumbents will definitely take the strain off your shoulders. Still, a good day of test rides would tell you which positions will work best for you. According to the highly-incomplete Bentrider map, there are two bent shops in your general area: Angle Lake Cyclery in Seattle, and Cambie Cycles in Vancouver. It looks like both *may* have a good selection, although web pages sometimes mislead.

LWB bikes seem to be easier on my back than SWB bikes. YMMV.